My Other Creations: Mermaid Notebook Using Tim Holtz's Picture Wheel die

The theme over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog is "nautical."  I just returned from a wonderful trip along the coast where the quaint little gift shops celebrated all things mermaid.  I decided to make a notebook/binder that an artsy mermaid might own.

I started with a Tim Holtz worn cover, which I painted and dripped Infusions Royal Blood and A Bit Jaded all over.  I was going for a drippy underwater look.

Next I took a color wheel and used the same technique- added paint, ink and Infusions.  On top of the color wheel, I attached a picture wheel die-cut that was colored with Distress Stain and texture paste that was smeared through a bubble stencil (see previous post here for more details).

I added some colored scraps and shapes (some cut with the Tim Holtz Trellis die) as I tried to channel Ariel (Disney's Little Mermaid) and her habit of treasuring little pieces of everything lovely.  I added sprays of green stars to the corners, which I thought sort of replicated the look of seaweed.  Then I added a sentiment from a WPlus9 stamp set called Stardust.  I also dyed a piece of crinkle ribbon using Distress Stain which I looped through the spine of the book.

Here are the supplies I used which you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

Tim Holtz Journaler Worn Cover	Sizzix Alterations Picture Wheel Die	5.125 Inch Color Wheel	Neat and Tangled Seeing Stars die	Tim Holtz Trellis Frameworks Die
Sizzix Big Shot	WPlus9 Stardust Clear Stamps	Dina Wakley TURQUOISE Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley Black Heavy Body Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE Media Heavy Body Acrylic Paints
Dina Wakley UMBER Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Infusions Royal Blood Colored Stain	Paper Artsy A BIT JADED Infusions Colored Stain	Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad	Timber Brown StazOn
Tim Holtz Layering Stencil BUBBLE	RANGER TEXTURE PASTE	Tim Holtz DISTRESS SPRAY STAIN SET OF 24	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Crinkle Ribbon	Idea-ology Ruler Ribbon
Ranger Non Stick Craft Sheet

I can't wait to see what nautical treasures you whip up this week!  Upload your creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $50 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.

My Cards and Tags: Fabric Scrap Tags using Whimsy Stamps' Stitched Tag Dies

I'm excited to be a Special Guest Designer at Whimsy Stamps this month.  Since it had been wayyyy too long since I dug into my fabric stash, that was something I wanted to incorporate in my little trio of tags.  I think that adding just a few fabric scraps here and there is a great way to add some oomph to plain old tags.  And if you're not in the mood to dig out the sewing machine, glue works great, too!

I started out with my favorite new paper, Strathmore Mixed Media, and sprayed it with some Dylusions Ink Sprays and water.  This created some dandy background colors which blended and dripped around nicely.  I finger-painted some white acrylic paint on top and added some polka dots with a stencil and more white paint.

I like making page-sized collages because it's good bang for your buck.  I took one part of my collage and cut it into three tags using my Sizzix Big Shot and a Shapeology die set from Whimsy Stamps called Stitched Tag Dies.  I love the versatility of this little set!  I wanted the fabric scraps to be my focal point, so I toned down my tags with more white paint and added some text scraps from a cook book.

I went to my fabric scrap stash and laid out some random strips and scraps that I liked.  And since I was going with a fabric theme, I outlined the edges of my tags with the In Stitches stamp set, also from Whimsy Stamps.

I glued my fabric scraps on using Aleene's Turbo Tacky glue.  Then, because I'm an obsessive little nut, I went back in adding more color with some acrylic paint, then more white, then more color until I wound up with the look I liked.

As a finishing touch, I added some dimensional paper flowers.

I looped some white embroidery floss through the holes at the top of the tags and they were done!

These tags were a lot of fun to make and prove that while I have no problem hoarding fabric scraps, I'll destroy a cookbook page without a second thought.  I figure those two actions sort of cancel each other out to keep me from being a total Home Ec failure, right? 

My Other Creations: Gift Card Boxes featuring Simon Says Stamp's Hydrangea Petal dies

Happy Birthday to Simon Says Stamp!  Since they are celebrating another awesome year, "Happy Birthday" was fittingly chosen as this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme. We're also highlighting some fine Simon Says Stamp exclusive products in our projects.  I decided to decorate a couple of gift card boxes with "Let's Celebrate" as the mantra.  I love making covers for already-made things (like boxes) because it allows me to still personalize a gift when I don't have time to start from scratch.

I started out with white cardboard boxes, about 4" x 4".  I laid my box lids down on Strathmore Mixed Media paper and traced around them to get the right size.  I cut the squares out of my paper, then stamped various images on them using Ranger Jet Black Archival ink.

  
Next I smeared acrylic paint onto the paper using my fingers (so therapeutic)!  I used Dina Wakley's acrylic paints in white, Lapis, Blackberry, Lemon and Lime.

I dabbed some Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers) onto sponges and smudged it onto my paper, then painted over everything with more white paint.

I used a Dina Wakley stencil and more Distress Ink to add some polka dots around the edges of my squares.  I die-cut some hydrangea petals using my Big Shot and some collage scraps that were left over from a previous project.  I outlined the petals with a black Sharpie and glued them to my lids.  I drew some stems for my flowers and stamped "Let's Celebrate" on each box.

Once my squares were decorated, I glued them to the tops of my boxes and filled them with colored tissue paper.  Just perfect for a gift card!

Here are the supplies I used, which you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

Simon Says Clear Stamps GRUNGE ALPHABET	Simon Says Clear Stamps SCRIBBLE FLOWERS	Simon Says Stamp One With Nature Clear Stamps	Simon Says Clear Stamps GAME TILE LETTERS sss101518 The Color of Fun	Simon Says Stamp I Love Donuts Clear Stamps
Simon Says Stamp Sparkle & Shine Stamp Set	Simon Says Stamp Hydrangea Petals die	Sizzix Big Shot	Dina Wakley Spaced Dots Stencil	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE Media Heavy Body Acrylic Paints
Dina Wakley Lime Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley LEMON Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley BLACKBERRY VIOLET Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley LAPIS Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Peacock Feathers - Distress Ink
Picked Raspberry - Distress Ink	Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad	Ranger Non Stick Craft Sheet

I can't wait to see how you say Happy Birthday this week!  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your change to win one of TWO $50 vouchers to the Simon Says Stamp store (a bonus voucher from Simon in celebration of their birthday)!